Wind

Family firm hits green jackpot as UK renewables player Banks bought for 'almost $1bn' by global giant

The Banks Group built a British renewables powerhouse that will now become part of Brookfield’s global empire

The Banks Renewables team celebrating hitting the three million megawatt hour landmark earlier this year.
The Banks Renewables team celebrating hitting the three million megawatt hour landmark earlier this year.Foto: The Banks Group
Journalist

UK family-owned Banks Renewables has been bought up by Canadian investment giant Brookfield in a deal reportedly worth almost $1bn.

The Banks Group announced today (Monday) that it has agreed to sell its renewables division to Brookfield, which boasts $850bn of assets under management and owns its own green arm, Brookfield Renewable.

The Banks Group was founded in the northern city of Durham in 1976 as a coal mining operation by its chair Harry Banks and his three brothers – Graham, Joe and Bruce. It later branched into areas including transport, property development and, in 2006, renewable energy.

Now, Banks Renewables owns 11 onshore wind farms across Yorkshire, the North East, the North West and Scotland, with a total portfolio of around 4GW of projects either operational or in development.

Harry Banks, who chairs The Banks Group, which he founded along with his brothers – Graham, Joe and Bruce – said that Brookfield’s “established position in the renewables industry and the strong cultural fit that exists between both businesses will lead to this acquisition being to the benefit of all parties involved.”

“The greater resources of Brookfield will enable the fuller development of opportunities which Banks Renewables are introducing,” he said.

“It will be good for Banks Renewables’ employees and their career prospects, and it will be good for Brookfield because they are acquiring a renewables business with a proven track record and a capability to take the business forward.”

Brookfield vice president Sebastian Perl said that the UK is a “high-quality location for renewable energy development and we are delighted to have made a further commitment to this market.”

“We have a track record of being long-term owners of renewable energy businesses around the world and we see great potential to continue the great work that Banks Renewables has already achieved.”

Perl told the FT that Brookfield had not been deterred by the recent travails in the UK wind power industry.
Onshore wind developments in England have been effectively banned for approaching a decade and a recent relaxation of rules left developers underwhelmed.
Local developer Community Windpower meanwhile recently halted work on a Scottish wind farm that would have been one of the largest in the UK, arguing a windfall tax on green energy profits in the wake of the war in Ukraine had left the project unworkable.
The picture is just as bleak for offshore wind, with developers staging a disastrous no-show at the UK’s recent green energy auction – blowing a hole in the country’s net zero ambitions – as the price on offer for their energy was set too low amid soaring inflation and supply chain issues.

Perl maintained however that there is “generally a very positive outlook” for renewables in the UK and that cost pressures for onshore wind were short-term.

“There might be some challenges along the road but you have that with every market, every business. He said he did not see the windfall tax as a “showstopper” for development.

Brookfield last year assembled a $15bn green war chest that it says is the world’s largest fund focused on the energy transition.

It has recently paired with Indian private-sector giant Reliance Industries to explore opportunities involving renewable energy and decarbonisation equipment in Australia, and snapped up the unregulated commercial renewables business of Duke Energy, one of the US’ largest wind operators, in a $2.8bn deal.
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Published 3 October 2023, 10:59Updated 3 October 2023, 10:59
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